White Room

About the White Room

The White Room provides current information relating to new technologies for energy efficiency. Stay connected with the latest news, events, and scientific breakthroughs in this fast moving sector. Use our filters on the left or click here to send a suggestion for content to add.

California surpassed one gigawatt of solar power production last month. One gigawatt can meet the instantaneous demand of at least 750,000 California homes. This milestone shows how far California has come with solar power and how far it has to go.

From 1978 to 2005, energy use in homes has remained essentially constant. There have been incredible energy efficiency improvements, but that has been offset by bigger homes and more stuff that needs to be plugged in.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory produced a study looking at available renewable energy sources and potential of all 50 states. Economic and market constraints will ultimately determine which renewable methods might be used.

Making ice at night to augment air conditioning usage during the day can help save money by cutting down on the peak power demand. This thermal energy storage system gives the building owner cheaper power, and the utility gets a solution to its peak power problems.

California's utilities need to produce 20,000-plus megawatts of energy from renewable sources by 2020. Governor Brown wants at least 12,000 megawatts to be decentralized generation. Rooftop and ground-mounted solar will be one of the main technologies used to accomplish this goal.